but here's a helping hand (and I am up and on my broken limbs)
by BookLoverL
Summary: Force lightning isn't something to be taken lightly. Luke journeys towards healing, with the help of his friends. Sequel to "worry not, everything is sound".
1. Chapter 1

Luke was put aboard the first shuttle back to Home One, along with Lando, Wedge, and several others who command apparently thought needed debriefing. He was steadfastly ignoring the pain he was in, even though it felt like it had been slowly increasing throughout the course of the day. Leia, Han and Chewie were staying behind for now, along with Threepio, to ensure the Ewoks stayed friendly to the Rebels at least until everyone had left, and considering how he'd been introduced to the Ewoks, Luke thought it was a sensible idea, though he'd never felt like he'd been in any real danger. They'd all need debriefing, too, of course, but Luke supposed that command couldn't debrief everyone at once in any case.

"Hey Luke, what are you thinking about?" asked Wedge.

"Just friends," said Luke, smiling. "You don't think they'll keep us in the debriefing too long, do you?"

"Oh, they'll probably keep us there for the whole day. No, the whole week," said Wedge, grinning. "We've got such a lot to say, after all."

Luke laughed, then tried to cover up his wince as the laughter jarred his aching bones.

"I hope they don't keep us that long," said Lando. "I've got things to do. It takes a lot of effort to look this good."

"Whatever it is that you do, it works," Luke told him, grinning. "I'm sure I don't look that good."

"Oh, but you do, Luke," Wedge insisted. "You've got all the muscles, and the Jedi powers."

"If you say so," said Luke. "You're in pretty good shape yourself, you know."

"Well, I try," Wedge replied.

It wasn't long before they reached their destination. Luke was called into the debriefing room first, separately from the others. He winked at Wedge and Lando before he went in, and tried to ignore the deep soreness in his muscles and the slight lack of responsiveness in his prosthetic hand.

"Commander Skywalker," Mon Mothma greeted him. Admiral Ackbar was also there. "It's good to see you in one piece. Do come in."

"Mon Mothma, Admiral Ackbar. It's good to be in one piece," he admitted, entering and taking a seat. "I want to go to medical after this, though, so please don't keep me too long."

"We'll try not to," said Ackbar. "We've heard in our communications from the ground that you went aboard the Death Star, rather than staying with the ground team. Can you tell us what you were doing there?" Luke took a deep breath.

"Certainly," he agreed, and began telling the story of the previous day's events. Mothma and Ackbar let him finish, then looked at each other.

"So, you left the rest of your team, surrendered yourself to Vader, and he took you to the Emperor?" clarified Mothma. "Why?"

"That's correct," said Luke. "I needed to confront Vader as part of my Jedi training, and if I'd stayed on the moon, he would have sensed me there, and come for the ground team." Mothma nodded, and made a note.

She continued, "You said that the Emperor and Vader both died before the Death Star exploded. You killed both of them?"

"No," said Luke. "Vader killed the Emperor, and then died from his injuries. He came back to the light, at the end."

"Back to the light? We thought Vader was always a Sith," Ackbar said.

Luke breathed in, considering what he should tell them. He decided the truth was the best option. "I ask that you don't share this with people yet. Darth Vader was originally Anakin Skywalker, my father."

"I thought he'd died in the Clone Wars," Mothma said, eyes wide. "You're absolutely right that we shouldn't make this widely known."

"In the end, he couldn't… he couldn't bear to see me suffer," Luke admitted. "He overthrew the bonds of his master, and saved my life. The lightning fried his life support systems, and he died as I was carrying him to a shuttle."

"Lightning?" Ackbar asked, alarmed. "What lightning?"

"…the lightning that the Emperor was using to attack me," Luke explained. "I did say I wanted to go to medical."

Mothma looked at him, as if suddenly seeing the pain he was in. "Get to medical, Commander. We've heard enough for now. We'll finish debriefing you later."

"Thank you," Luke said, and left.

The medical bay was cold, white, and clinical. Luke glanced at his prosthetic hand, remembering the time it'd been fitted, then shook his head and headed into the room.

"Commander Skywalker!" said the examiner, scrambling to get to his feet, clearly caught by surprise. "Is there something I can do for you, sir?"

"Yes, actually," explained Luke. "I sustained… ah… electrocution injuries during the battle yesterday. They still hurt, so I'd like you to check me over."

"Of course, sir, right away," the examiner agreed. He was a middle aged human, and Luke was sure he'd seen him around before. "If you come over here, the medical droid will take a scan."

"Thank you, Doctor…?" Luke headed to the bed near the droid, took his shirt off, and lay down to allow himself to be scanned.

"Fliss, Oorden Fliss, sir," said the examiner. Fliss looked worriedly at the burn lines streaking across Luke's torso.

"Doctor Fliss, then." Luke waited while the droid moved the portable scanner across his body. "And please, call me Luke."

"Scan completed," the droid informed them. "Right hand is prosthetic. Circuitry may be damaged. Maintenance recommended. Calcification of bones detected: 80%. External burns detected: 2%. Internal burns detected: throughout 70% of body. External bruising: 2%. No other injuries. Immediate treatment recommended."

"Luke? You're on bed rest, starting now." Fliss commanded. "I don't want to see you out of that bed. I'm ordering bacta treatment for you as soon as possible. What have you been doing walking around all day?" Luke tried not to look too sheepish.

"I didn't want everyone to worry," he admitted. "They were all having fun celebrating, and I was just glad to be alive."

"Well, they'll worry a lot less if you don't give yourself some kind of permanent injury by letting yourself go untreated," Fliss admonished him, shaking his head, while sending an urgent request for bacta on his datapad. "What was it that electrocuted you, anyway? I haven't seen a case this bad for years. You're lucky it didn't stop your heart."

"It was the Emperor," Luke told him.

"The Emperor?" Fliss said. "You met him? He went down to the moon?"

"I met him," said Luke, "but it was me who went up to him, on the Death Star." Fliss looked at him with wide eyes, even as he started treating Luke's burns.

"When you're healed, you've got to tell me that story," Fliss said.

"Some day, I'll tell everyone the story," said Luke. "It's not the time yet, though. Just know that the Emperor and Darth Vader are both dead."

"You must be in a lot of pain," Fliss commented, "but it doesn't look like it's bothering you that much."

"I am, but I'm using the Force to help me ignore it," Luke revealed, grinning slightly. "Us Jedi are useful for some things, after all."

"Ah, I see… I think," said Fliss. "Still, if it gets too bad, let me know, and we can get you some painkiller. The bacta should be ready in another five minutes."

"Good," said Luke. "And I think I'll be fine until then."

True to Fliss's word, a group of technicians appeared five minutes later, bringing one of the large bacta tanks out of storage. Apparently, the only reason one hadn't been available immediately was that the ones already in use were occupied by pilots who'd been injured in the battle around the Death Star, and Luke understood that perfectly, so he was happy to wait his turn. Fliss wheeled the bed over to where the tank would be stationed. Then he helped Luke strip down further, refusing to let him just do it himself, which made Luke blush a little, but he was a Jedi, so he decided he ought to be able to cope with it. Someone put a mask on his face, and a medical droid administered what was presumably a sedative. As it began to take effect, the technicians lifted him up and lowered him into the bacta, and then everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

It was late evening by the time Han and Leia made it onto the last shuttle off Endor, Chewie and the droids with them. They turned Threepio off almost as soon as the journey started.

"Are you going to miss the Ewoks?" Leia asked Han, grinning.

"Princess," said Han, "if I never see another Ewok in my life, I'll be a very happy man."

"GRRrrrargh," said Chewie.

"What do you mean, they weren't so bad?" Han told him. "They were going to eat us!"

"GrrraAAArgh!"

"Yes, I know they helped us later…" Han admitted. "Still, if Luke hadn't come through with the Jedi powers, we'd both be roasted barbecue by now." He paused for a moment. "How's the kid doing, anyway? He never did tell me what happened up there."

Leia breathed in, trying to reach out through the connection that she now knew was there. Where was Luke? That's right, he'd been going to Home One, and he'd promised he'd go to medical afterwards. She focussed, and she thought she managed to sense his presence somewhere up there. It seemed a little muted compared to before, but very peaceful.

"He went to medical," she said. "He'll be fine later, if he's not better already."

"What did he need to go to medical for?" Han asked.

"He was in pain, earlier," Leia said, sighing. "Something the Emperor did before dying."

Han frowned. "If he wasn't already dead, I'd kill him again," he growled. "Luke killed him, and Vader?"

"No," said Leia. "Vader killed the Emperor." It still sounded unbelievable to her. Han's mouth opened wide.

"GraAagh?" asked Chewie.

"It doesn't make sense to me, either," said Han. "Is Luke sure it was Vader?"

"He's sure," said Leia. She breathed in again, trying to decide how much to tell Han. She didn't want to be that monster's daughter, but Luke seemed sure that he hadn't always been a monster. And she supposed Han and Chewie would find out eventually, whether she told them or not. "The Emperor was torturing Luke, killing him, and… well, Luke tells me that Vader is his… our… father." There, she'd said it.

"Your father?" said Han, as if the words would become less strange if he repeated them.

"I don't want to believe it either," she agreed. "But if Luke says it's true, then it's true. Apparently, he used to be Anakin Skywalker." Han looked at her, and then pulled her close.

"Han," she said, "what if I'm… like him? What if I start trying to learn to use the Force, and it makes me evil somehow? What if evil's in my blood?"

"Hey, sweetheart," said Han, "that's not true. First, you're nothing like him. Second, if that made you evil, then Luke'd be evil too. Does he seem evil to you?"

"Of course Luke's not evil," said Leia.

"Well, there you are, then," said Han. He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. She rested her head on his shoulder, and they waited for the shuttle to arrive.

Han and Leia made it to the debriefing room not long after boarding- apparently, because they had key information, they'd been bumped up the queue. Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar were waiting for them.

"Princess Leia, General Solo, come in," said Mon. "Before we start, neither of you have any injuries you should be in medical for, do you?"

"No, we're fine," Han told her. Mon seemed relieved.

"Commander Skywalker let us talk to him for ten minutes before we realised he needed to go to medical," she explained. "Do you two know anything about that?"

"The kid's in medical?!" shouted Han. "He didn't tell me anything."

"He was in pain this morning," Leia said, reaching out to touch Han's hand beneath the table. "I think it was something the Emperor did."

"The Emperor attacked him with lightning," said Ackbar. "The doctor's report says he should recover, but he's in intensive bacta treatment right now. You can go and visit after the debriefing."

"Then let's get this over with already," said Han.

"What would you like to know?" asked Leia.

An hour later, after Mon and Ackbar had coaxed them through the whole tale, complete with speeder chases, being captured by Ewoks, and Threepio's unwitting magic impersonation, Han and Leia were finally given leave to go and visit Luke. Leia's concern for him had only grown during the course of the debriefing, being made to wait for news, even though she didn't have any foreboding feelings about him. Han seemed just as concerned, and impatiently made their excuses, and the pair strode down the corridors towards the medical bay as quickly as they could without alarming people. Sliding the door open without even knocking, they entered the room.

The medical bay was surprisingly calm for somewhere where, even now, several Alliance pilots had to be fighting for their lives in the smaller rooms off the side of the main area. The medical examiner- Doctor Oorden Fliss, Leia recalled- was sitting down, resting, and she could see Luke bobbing slowly in a tank of bacta plugged into one of the additional stations in the back corner of the room. She breathed deeply, calming herself, as she felt Han also relax a little on seeing their friend – Leia's brother, now – under the healing effect of the bacta. Then Doctor Fliss looked up, spotted his visitors, and got to his feet.

"Princess Organa, General Solo!" he said hurriedly. "What can I do for you? Are you here for treatment, too?"

"No, we're both fine," said Han.

"You can check us over if you want, Doctor Fliss," said Leia, "but it's nothing serious. We're here to see Luke."

"Ah, of course," said the doctor. "Right this way, sirs. Actually, I looked at his forms and he'd put you two as his emergency medical contacts, so I can tell you a lot more than I'd be able to tell someone else." He smiled at them kindly, and walked them over to the bacta tank. The Jedi was floating steadily in the bacta mixture, looking just a little ridiculous. Leia took a closer look, and winced, seeing that Luke's body was crisscrossed with thin burn wounds, though they didn't look as bad as she knew they would have done when they were fresh.

"Luke…" she whispered.

"Hey, kid," said Han. "You better be back on your feet soon- I need you to help me go over the Falcon now Lando's finished with it."

"What can you tell us about his condition?" Leia asked Doctor Fliss. The doctor took out his datapad, and began his explanation.

"Initially," he explained, "Commander Skywalker had burns to 2% of his skin, bruising to another 2%, and internal burns throughout 70% of his body. However, the bacta treatment is already making a great deal of progress there, and I expect both the burns and the bruises to be fully healed by the middle of the day tomorrow. The more serious condition, however, is the calcification of the commander's bones caused by the, ah, electrocution. The bacta will make good progress towards healing this too, but after he comes out of the tank, I'd like to put him on a week's bed rest, supplemented with a carefully controlled diet, to ensure that the mineral balance in his body stabilises correctly and to prevent the condition from creating any long term side effects."

Leia nodded, taking this in.

"How are you gonna keep the kid on bed rest for a whole week?" asked Han.

"Well, I was planning to ask him, sir," said Fliss.

"We'll help if he gets restless," Leia volunteered. "Just keep us updated."

"Of course," Fliss agreed. "If you like, Princess Organa, I'll examine both of you now, just in case there's something you missed in the field."

"Well, that's not-"began Han, starting to walk off. Leia grabbed hold of his arm, keeping him next to her.

"Yes, thank you," she told the doctor, smiling. "We had bacta patches with us, but it'd help our peace of mind."


End file.
